How to Conduct an Effective Sales Win-Loss Analysis

The best win-loss reports effectively integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. The true key to success however is the quality of that data.

Quantitatively, a simple conversion ratio of qualified leads to wins and losses is common, but inaccurate data collection can topple the legitimacy of whatever insights are being extracted from the data. For example, most customer relationship management (CRM) platforms require the seller to input why they lost a deal. Multiple-choice options typically include “price,” which is an easy out for the seller, given that no one wants to admit they lost a deal for any other reason. If the information input is less than truthful, it isn’t helpful to your analysis. In this case, it's more effective for an objective party, i.e., the buyer themselves, to list and rank the top 10 factors for sales outcomes. Going to the source for the reason why a deal failed to close is going to provide a level of accuracy in the data that you won't be able to replicate by asking the seller whose job is it to consistently capture more wins. 

Qualitatively, we're looking to gather experiential data, i.e., what actually occurred during the sale, in the form of natural language from all sale participants. This aspect is often mishandled by prioritizing feedback from those invested in the sale, like sellers and managers, who may not provide objective insights. The optimal approach involves conducting interviews with multiple customers. These should be led by a skilled interviewer who has a well-prepared script shortly after the sale's conclusion. This practice ensures a more comprehensive understanding of the sales process, allowing you to augment future sales with the feedback and improvements you receive from the interviewed stakeholders.

The Analysis: Learning from the Data

The next step involves understanding the data you've gathered from your sales teams. Start by analyzing the wins and losses from your sales data, identifying the factors that consistently drive wins and scrutinizing the reasons behind losses. In this period, you'll be answering the following questions: 

• What is helping your sales organization win on a regular basis?
• What is preventing your sales organization from winning?

It's important to understand in these moments that customers will often disregard your product for the sake of any of the following alternative options:

• The customer’s problem isn’t urgent and doesn’t require an immediate allocation of resources.
• The customer takes the function in-house for potential savings of time and budget.
• The customer takes their business to one of your direct competitors.
• The customer decides on a different solution to their problem. Usually, this means they take their business to an indirect competitor.

Look at the data with an eye for interpretation. Focus on identifying leading indicators that forecast future trends and lagging indicators, like revenue and profit, which reflect past performance. This comprehensive analysis helps in refining sales approaches and predicting future market behaviors. 

The Response: Teaching from the Data

When your sales team wins, you learn how to build on success. However, losses actually have the potential to teach you and your sales organization more. A win-loss report conveys bad news is a good opportunity for growth. Use these moments to guide your sales directors with enhancements to incentives, sales management, and coaching. 

Whether the news is good or bad, employ these best practices:

1. Understand your position. Find out where you might have lost ground in the deal, even if you won. This means identifying where you can remove bottlenecks for buyers and any trends or patterns in a particular measurement. A single loss might not mean much, but repeatedly losing to the same competitor signals a need for change. 
   
   
2. Focus on the process. Most issues begin with a flawed approach. Examine sales processes from customer intake to the conversion of a prospect into a customer. 
   
   
3. Disseminate information properly. Win-loss data should be shared in real time, and it should be accompanied by specific actions for sales directors to take. Collaborating over this information via email or piece of software is a must. 
   
   
4. Communicate with frontline sales directors. Develop mini action plans based on these insights and implement them in the field.
    
   
5. Develop competitive statements. Help your directors craft competitive positioning statements. These can be used to educate sellers on how to counter competitive claims and advantages.
   
   
6. Communicate across the organization. Share insights not just with the sales team, but also with product teams and other relevant departments.

Effective win-loss analysis is key to advancing your sales strategy. It offers a real picture of your sales performance and should be used to continually refine your approach.